The interview that rocked the royals: How Harry and Meghan aired their grievances to The Firm in a tell-all conversation with Oprah three years ago today

In January 2020, Prince Harry and Meghan fled the royal family and the United Kingdom to start their new lives in America, seemingly far from press interference and media attention.

But it didn’t take long for them to return to the public eye – in one of the most incendiary ways imaginable.

About 50 million people around the world watched as the duo took part in an 85-minute interview with Oprah Winfrey on March 7, 2021.

The surprising revelations still resonate three years later.

Chatting in the sun-drenched garden of a Californian mansion – which turned out to be owned by a friend of Oprah – a heavily pregnant Meghan described her time with the royal family as a nightmare she had barely survived.

She told how she had to give up her passport, driving licence, keys and other personal belongings when she moved into the cramped confines of Nottingham Cottage in the grounds of Kensington Palace.

“I left the house twice in four months,” she told Oprah, adding, “I couldn’t feel lonelier.”

She remembered watching the Little Mermaid cartoon and dating Ariel, the mermaid who trades her voice for legs to marry her prince.

‘She falls in love with a prince and loses her voice because of it.’

Oprah asked the now famous question, “Were you silent or were you silenced?”

“The latter,” Meghan replied.

She claimed that the situation had deteriorated so much that she had even considered suicide.

“I didn’t want to live anymore,” she told Oprah. ‘It was a clear, real and frightening constant thought.’

Yet Meghan claimed that Palace staff offered her no help when she went to them to beg for support, even though she was six months pregnant with Archie at the time.

“I was told that wasn’t possible, that it wouldn’t be good for the institution,” she said.

She described an exchange with an unnamed but senior member of Palace staff.

“I remember this conversation like it was yesterday because they said, ‘My heart goes out to you because I see how bad it is, but there is nothing we can do to protect you because you are not a paid employee of the institution. ” Meghan recalled.

The other bombshell was the Sussexes’ suggestion that the royal family was collectively racist, pointing the finger at an unnamed member who, they alleged, had racially speculated about the color of the royal family’s skin. their son Archie when Meghan was pregnant.

“When I was pregnant,” Markle recalled family members having, “there were concerns and conversations about how dark his skin would be when he was born. People were concerned about how dark Archie’s skin would be.’

A tense-looking Harry confirmed this, saying that he was the one who heard these comments and told his wife.

Harry and Meghan said they would not reveal who made the statement, with Meghan saying: ‘I think that would be very damaging to them. [to reveal].’

But later – especially when Harry published his memoirs Spare – this particular controversy seemed to be forgotten

The Duke and Duchess also raised eyebrows by claiming they were officially married by the Archbishop of Canterbury three days before their actual wedding day in May 2018.

Whatever took place before the official ceremony at St George’s Chapel, the Archbishop of Canterbury denied it was a wedding. to an Italian newspaper:

‘The legal wedding was on Saturday. I signed the marriage certificate, which is a legal document, and I would have committed a serious criminal offense if I had signed it knowing it was false.

‘So you can make of it what you want. But the legal wedding was on Saturday. But I won’t say what happened at other meetings.’

Meghan used the interview to debunk reports that she made her sister-in-law, the Duchess of Cambridge, cry over Princess Charlotte’s bridesmaid outfit in the run-up to her wedding.

In fact, the Duchess of Sussex said, the opposite was true: the Duchess of Cambridge was the one who made it happen her shout.

“It was a really rough week of the wedding, and she was upset about something,” Meghan explained to Oprah.

“But she owned it, and she apologized, and she brought me flowers and a note apologizing. She did what I would do if I knew I had hurt someone, by just taking responsibility for it.”

Harry was also unimpressed when it came to the royal family.

He accused members of The Firm of being jealous of Meghan because of the “effortless” way Meghan had captivated audiences during their tour of the Commonwealth and “how good she was at her job.”

And for the first time, he made it clear that he and Prince William were at odds, saying that “he loved him dearly” but that “we are on different paths.”

He also described the then Prince Charles and William as ‘trapped’. “They are not allowed to leave and I feel sorry for that,” he said.

What members of the royal family think about the interview is unknown, as most of them have remained silent in response, but Prince William’s own response to a reporter was simply the casual comment: “We are not a racist family at all.”

And the Queen only released a statement suggesting the Sussexes’ story might not be the same as hers.

“The whole family is saddened to hear how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan.

“The issues raised, especially those around race, are concerning. While some memories may vary, they are taken very seriously and discussed by the family privately.

“Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be beloved family members.”